Sunday, November 13, 2016

Response to "I am."

Several of my friends posted links to this article in the aftermath of the 2016 presidential election to explain their votes.

I posted this comment to her blog, but it never showed up. I don't know why. In any case, I'm trying to paraphrase it as best I can, because of course, what I typed disappeared into the ether of the internet, never to be seen again.

"You seem like a reasonable, honset and intelligent person. I'm trying to understand your side. You do not see yourself as bigoted, racist, sexist or homophobic. You are hurt by the criticism of those who say that your vote was an endorsement of racism, homophobia and bigotry.

"You put a lot of effort and thought into your decision. To quote you, 'I am happy that trade and markets will once again be free. I am happy that we are going to attack terrorism more aggressively instead of being walked all over. I am happy that jobs will be brought back into the United States. I am happy that small business owners will finally be able to reap the benefits of hard work and dedication.'

"Three out of those four reasons have to do with the perception of improved chances of economic success for the middle class under Trump. Even if we assume that's true, how do you justify placing the wealth of any one group of people ahead of the physical safety of another?"

That is my question to those of you I specifically linked to come here. You posted this, so you're endorsing her viewpoint. How do you justify placing your economic gain over the safety of others?